


The New Girl

by MegumitheGreat



Series: Shameless Mitchentine what-ifs, inserts, and fixes [1]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: F/M, First Meetings, Innocence, One Shot, Self-Indulgent, card game, scene insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-03-05 21:57:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18837577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MegumitheGreat/pseuds/MegumitheGreat
Summary: Clementine is asked to mingle with the students at Ericson Boarding School for Troubled Youth.  She meets one of the students, which prompts a somewhat awkward discussion later on.





	The New Girl

**Author's Note:**

> I am of the idea that Mitch had a small crush on Clementine at some given point in time, whether it was the greenhouse or before. But he was so, so kind in Episode 1 and even intrigued by her and AJ that...whyyyy not? No shame.

Clementine and AJ looked around the schoolyard. It was night time, and the courtyard was covered in a sleepy glow from the fire. Something delicious-smelling was in the air as a kid stirred a pot bubbling with spices and meat. It would be a little while longer before dinner was ready, and they had been encouraged to speak with the other kids by Marlon.

They met Ruby, whom AJ had bitten after she had spooked him. Clementine coached him how to apologize to her for it, and she accepted the apology. They met Aasim, who had logged in his diary that he was saved by a girl and wouldn’t let that happen again. Omar was the one cooking, and Louis introduced him much to his annoyance.

Then they came to Willy and Mitch sitting on a pair of couches. Willy, the younger of the two, was watching Mitch carve a spike out of a branch. He was enthralled by his skill, and so was AJ. Clementine took a look at him—he seemed like he would be an alright person.

“Hey,” she greeted when they had walked up to them.

Mitch looked up for a second then returned to his carving as if he couldn’t stop sharpening it. He did, however, acknowledge her arrival. “Hey. You’re new,” he said seeming uninterested.

“I am.” Clementine couldn’t read him like that, and out of habit, she crossed her arms. There wasn’t much to talk about.

“I’m carving a weapon.” Mitch had quick short swipes with his knife.

“Yeah, I can see that.” How much more awkward could this be?

“You’re good at that!” AJ smiled at him.

This certainly made Mitch stop and look up at them with a smile. Clementine was somewhat surprised. She wasn’t sure if it was the warm glow or the moonlight, but the lights brought out those greyish green eyes. They were intriguing.

“You like that, little dude?” Mitch asked him happily. “Want to see something cool?”

“I want to see! I want to see!” AJ said while bouncing.

With flicks of his wrist, he flipped his knife between his worn fingers. Clementine was impressed, but AJ loved how nimble his hands were and how much of a badass Mitch was for performing that trick. “That’s how you fuck up some monsters,” he said like some sort of sly anti-hero.

“Yeah, fuck up monsters!”

Clementine was unfazed—after all, she had told him that he was allowed to use profanity. Willy and Mitch were shocked and amazed that someone that young was allowed to say that. And they laughed at the motion.

“That little dude said ‘fuck’!” Mitch tittered. Clearly tickled by the encounter, he took another look at the newcomers, Clementine’s face at ease though she was more than likely stifling a giggle. He wished he had seen her before acting oblivious. “Uh…”

Before he could get another word in, Clementine checked in with Marlon and his friend Brody. He didn’t think much of it, returning to his weapon carving until the food was ready. Willy glanced at him then at Clementine’s receding figure.

“Do you like her?” Willy asked him. “She sure is pretty. I bet she’d like you, too, Mitch, because you’re really nice. That little kid really liked you.”

“Willy, don’t talk so loud,” Mitch shushed him. “I don’t know if I like her. I mean, she’s pretty, but I want to get to know her more. I’m not going to go out of my way, though.”

“Oh…maybe you can talk to her again tomorrow or something.”

Mitch just shrugged. If anything, not to seem like he was at all curious about her, he would need to determine if she was safe enough to have around Willy.

Once dinner was over, Clementine and AJ played a few rounds of War with Louis, Violet, and Marlon before turning in for the night. And once they were gone, Louis was in a gossiping mood. Mitch and Willy were going to head to bed, too, until he stopped them to talk to the former.

“You’re a guy of caliber—kind of,” Louis said. Mitch frowned at him. He never did like his antics. “What do you think about the new girl?”

“Louis, would you get off it already?” Violet grumbled.

“Oh, come on, Violet! I know you’re interested, too! I saw that look you gave when she mentioned a boy.”

Mitch’s body tensed—but why?

“God, do you ever stop talking?”

Louis spun back to Mitch, who asked Willy to go on to bed without him. He knew that the love-crazy youth wouldn’t let him go until he got an answer. Mitch, though, was interested in her. It was strange—was this what it felt like to like someone that he had seen almost immediately? What was that about?

“She’s cute,” he said lost in thought.

Louis’s eyes shined, his eyebrow shooting off like a rocket at the prospect that—

“Even the scary pyromaniac Mitch is smitten by this new girl named Clementine! Clem, for short, of course.”

“Clementine…” Mitch, again in his own world, said. Then he realized that he was saying these things aloud. “Uh, I don’t give a shit! She’ll probably just leave in the morning anyway.”

“Well, I said she could stay,” Marlon said. “So…that’s going to be awkward if she does leave.”

Mitch averted his gaze, pulling an angry face to overcompensate that he _didn’t_ like her. Although, Louis was sharp. He put his arm around his neck, pivoting him to look up at the school building. If Clementine stayed, then it would be a battle to the metaphorical death for her heart. If she left…well, it would be a battle of who would be saddest.

“This is stupid,” Violet scoffed. “You just met her! And neither of you have a romantic bone in your body, so just leave her alone.”

“It’s a free-for-all then!” Louis laughed.

“Technically, we do have romantic bones,” Mitch said before catching himself again. “Fuck.”

He shook Louis off of his shoulders. He didn’t see the point of arguing over someone who probably was going to leave before dawn. He still kind of hoped she would stick around, and totally not because he wanted to get to her more. Making his way back to his dorm, he told them to have a good night, and when he snuck into his room with Willy, he found him that he was still awake.

“Mitch!” he happily said.

“Hey, buddy,” Mitch replied. He sat on the bed across from him.

“So, what did Louis ask you about?”

“Just what I thought about the new girl. Her name’s Clementine—Clem, for short.”

“Clem,” Willy said, rolling it on his tongue like a new candy. “I like it. She seems nice, and her kid is funny.”

“You think so? About Clem, I mean.”

“Uh-huh!” Willy narrowed his eyes at him. “Hey, you’re not going to do—”

“No way, you dork!” Mitch cut him off. He crossed his arms and frowned at him. “I’m not going to do anything like that!”

Willy looked at him dubiously still, but he loved and trusted Mitch like an older brother. He lay back on his bed, his eyes heavy with sleep. “Mitch, do you really like her?” he yawned.

“I-I don’t know,” Mitch embarrassedly said. “I just met her, but…”

“She’s…pretty…”

“Yeah, she is.”

Willy took a deep breath before drifting off. His last sleepy words were:

“I hope you and Clem can talk some more.”

Mitch didn’t know what to say or think about that. Sure, Clementine seemed nice, and he wouldn’t mind taking AJ under his wing like he had with Willy and Tennessee. He felt comfortable with the younger kids. As he fell asleep, he wondered what she was like, what they would talk about that didn’t involve his specific interests, and if she could hold her own in a fight. Nowadays, a pretty face didn’t mean anything. Competency—that was something worth fighting for.

**Author's Note:**

> I also like to think that being older than Willy and probably ostracized by others, Mitch helped Willy with his...problem by teaching him not to give into it.
> 
> I think it it would be funny for Louis and Mitch to compete for Clem's attention--polar opposites, you know?


End file.
